Spray drying apparatus



Aug. 28, 1951 F. E. REEsE z 2,566292 SPRAY DRYING APPARATUS Filed sept. 21, 1948 2 sheexs-sheex 1 |NvENToR 1 1-57- j' FRA Nc/s E. Rae-51;'

BY WWW ATTORNEY Aug' 28, 1951 F. E. REEsE 2566292 SPRAY DRYING 'APPARATUS Filed Sept. 21, 1948 2 Sheetsv-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 4 FRAIVG/S f. REESE ATI'ORNEY i 'and apparatus theref'orzfMoregparticularly the mam Aug. 28, 1951 2,566,z92

UNITED STATIEIS 7 PATENT OFFICE i I t .assezz "t SPRAY DBYING mAaA'rUs o y Francis Ishlteese, Sprinllleld, asslznor to Monsanto Chemical Company, St..Louis, Mo..

Ua. corporatlon of Delaware W;

Application September '21, 1948, Serial No.750,355 w i ioloizmt` (cl.

,This invention relates to spray drying'processesl` 'er'atini's:;lfreoufe lly to, remove the aooumulated inventionv relates,tag-;aniv improved method aand' made' to. solve the problem w means for removing driedmaterial from the botbyfdesigningfthe floor 'of the drier as an inverted tom of a spray dryingvapparatus.

i A o Fconhavinrrather 'steep sides.V This lnnovatlon i Spray driers are used as rapid` and eflicient "is eiileient ifthe solidmaterial is completely dry means for removing volatile materials from varand non-tacky when it comes into contact with ious types of solids. '-Roughly. they operate asl U thezsides. If it is not `dry or is tacky,1thepowder follows: (l) the solid materialvdissolv'ed in or? 4particles tenc'l to' stick to the sldes ofthe`cones mixed with a volatile materialis'lntroduced into 10 and zto'gradu'ally build upfa vcoati ng-'of substanthe top of a towerin'the| form of a'spray; '(2) a. tial`` thickness :land ins omejoaes fto partially hot gaseous mediumzisfiintroduced into the tower close th at or near the top thereof andfisdirected sozthat `-st'tullti nd*` ccumulated material removed .it mixes quickly and 'thoroughly withythe'spray' montauypy zquous ono time oonou'nnnel meth- (3) the volatile material is' evaporated and be- ,l 0dS- .'Aditififlyfthe m'ulltbf material adcomes greatly dilute'd by the g'aseous medium prehi'lg to vthe Sides of the con's'rep'l'esets 8 Subcipitating the solid material mV the form of .a i stantial loss if it has become'discolored or otherdried powder; (4) the vgaseous 'mixture is drawn W158 impaired during the build-11D Period- J oil at or near the bottom of the tower carrying- -Thevdmculties With the 1151131 Spray 'dl'ying with it the, major poruon of the dry powder; (5) o annaratus; are' accntuated wh'en .resino'us ma- .minor port'ionof the dry powder collects on the` teals which are thermd'esmnsive 'are-.dried bottomv4 of the tower and must be removed theremce they' have 9' stmng ndvency w here W from f t o' o iioors, walls, and mechanical sweeping devices Most of the problems concerned with the introat' the temperatur which must be sed m the auction of the materia to bo dried and the drydivine apparatus; i i ing medium have been. solved,l but the problem An object f this 'inventmn is to provlde 81.1'

i of removing all of the dried materialfrom the improved spray drymg appamtus' bottom of the tower has not been completely A further bjet is to provide an impmv means for removing the dried product from the spray drying apparatus.

. Still another object is to provide a means for preventing the accumulation of dried material 'on the fioors of spray driers.

overcome. The accumulation of appreciable amounts of dried material on the floor of`the driers decreases the efllciency of .the drying process and in many cases Iis detrimental to the properties of :the recovered material. For .exother objects wm be evident frm an impact-,ion ample, if the materials are not completely dry r of the accompanymg drawmgs m which;

or if they have a tendency to be tacky, they may 3 Fgure 1 is a dmgmmmatic view of a spray ag'glomerate into large chunks which when ultidrymg tower pal-my m section;

mately recovered must be broken up. Further- Figure 2 is a cross section taken through lines more, if the dried material is unstable in char- 2....2 of Figure 1 with a port-,km Qf the bustle pipe acter, it may discolor or decompose'during a pro- 40 being broken away; and

lonsed stay on the surfaces of the drier. Figure 3 is a oross section taken through the Many mechanical devices have been developed lines 3.4 of Figure 2,

for removing that portion of the dried material These and other objects are attained by prowhich is deposited on the floor of the driers. viding a continuous flow of a gaseous medium Amongtsllch devices are mechanical SWSGDS that across the lfloor of a spray drier from the continuously act to remove the dried powder as ,'periphery thereof to the centrally located exit soon as it falls and air sweeps Operating from report thereof.

volving ,jets situated in the drier slightly above Referring to the flgures, spray tower 4 is prothe bottom thereof. It has been found impossible I vided at the top with a conduit l carrying atomizto remove all of the accumulated material by these ing means l5 leading into chamber lt. Also at methods and the structures 'used to hold the the top of the .tower` and partially surrounding sweeping devices in position and to actuate them conduit I, there is 'provided conduit 25 leading to have served as additional surfaces for the acport 5. Floor 8 at the bottom of the tower is procumulation of thedried powder. When using vided with exit port 1. w

these devices, it has been necessary to cease opu Bustle pipe 8 is attached to the outside ot the tower at substantially the bottom thereof and is connected with the inside of the tower at floor 6 through a substantially continuous gap or slot 9. The floor 6 is held. in position by supports IO which are alsov attached to and support drier 4. The bustle pipe 8 is provided with a series of bafile plates I which may be adjusted by exterior handles I! attached thereto.

Figure l may be used to describe in detail the normal operation ofmy drier. A solution of a solid in a volatile liquid or a fluid mixture of a solid with a volatile liquid such as an aqueous slurry is introduced through conduit I carrying atomizing means Is into chamber IG of cylindrical tower l in the form of a i'lne spray. A heated gas. such as heated air, nitrogen, etc., is introduced into the' 'chamber through port 5. The temperature of the gas is sufl'iciently high to evaporate the volatile liquid in the spray, and the volume of gas introduced is sufllciently high to dilute the vclatne liquid to such an extent that it win' not readily be reabsorbed by the dried solid. The dilute mixture of volatile liquid and gaseous heating medium retains a major proportion of the dried solids which are in pulverulent form and carries it down through the tower and out through exit port 'I to a collection device not shown. A minor portion of the dried solid material does not remain suspended in the gaseous mixture but falls to the floor of the tower 6 from which it should be removed as soon as possible. It is to be understood that the size, shape, and location of conduit I, atomizing device IS, port 5, and port l may be varied to meet particular problems posed by difierent materials, and are shown merely to illustrate the operation of standard spray drying equipment.

In the spray drying operation, the flow of the gaseous media and of the dried particles suspended therein is'controlled by maintaining a pressure differential between the inlet and the exit ports of the drying tower. It is immaterial whether the pressure difierential is the difference between two positive pressures. between a positive and a negative pressure, or between atmospheric pressure and a negative pressure. 'A standard method of providing a' pressure diiferential is to insert an exhaust fan in the device for receiving the dried material., If the fan is of sufl'icient size and design, it may be sufilcient to maintain all of-the pressure diiferential needed. However, it is also feasible to provide a blower to force the desiccating gas into the drying chamber under higher positive pressures.

The essence of this invention is a continuous flow of air or other gaseous medium across the floor of the spray drier to the exit port and a means for providing such a continuous flow. One means for providing a continuous flow of gaseous medium'across the floor of the spray drier is shown at 8 in Figure 1 and in more detail in Figures 2 and 3. In this particular means, the floor of the spray drier is separated from the wall thereof by a gap or slot' 9, `and the gap is surrounded by a bustle pipe 8. T he floor is held in position by supports IO, which also support the entire drier, and the bustle pipe 8 is attached to the outside of said supports.

Bustle pipe 8 is of gradually decreasing cross section and conta ins a series of batile plates H which may be adjusted by exterior handles |2 or other conventional means. The function of the decreasing cross section of bustle pipe 8 and of the battles ll are to cooperate to insure an even flow of air across the bottom of the tower.

In operation. air or other gaseous'medium such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide. etc., is introduced 'into bustle pipe 8 under sufllcient pressure to insure a steary flow of 'gas into the tower. If an exhaust fan Operating on the exhaust port is capable 'of creating a negative pressure. the pressure in the bustle pipe need not be substantially above atmospheric pressure. The gaseous medium ilows from the bustle pipe through gap 8 between the floor and the wall of the spray drier and across the floor of the drying tower i as shown by the arrows ll in Figure 2 to the exit port 1, carrying with it all' of the dried solid material which escapes from the gaseous drying medium and substantially prevents the dried material from touching the floor.

The continuous flow of air should be maintained at such a rate that substantially none of the dried particles comes to rest on the floor of the drier. Since spray drying processes are designed to produce dry solid materials in particulate form and especially in a flnely divided form, the weight of `each individual particle is generally negligible, and the current of air necessary to prevent its touching the floor may be quite small and, therefore, the pressure differentialbetween the air sweep and the exit port need not be great. However, if a material havin! a high density is dried, the pressure diiferential may be increased until it is suflicient to move the heavy particles to the exit port before they touch the floor of the drier. In general, it is desirable to so adjust the pressure diiferential that the continuous flow of gaseous medium is smooth and even, and no turbulence occurs since turbulent gaseous currents wouldv tend to slow down the removal of the dried material by forcing it back up into the tower.

The temperature of the gaseous medium introduced at the bottom of the tower may be varied to meet problems peculiar to the specific materials being dried. For example, if the solid material is a synthetic resin which is thermo-responsive so that it is tacky at elevated temperatures. it is advantageous to use the gaseous medium at atmospheric temperatures which may range from 40 F. below zero to -120 F. above zero to provide rapid cooling of the solid material and substantially eliminate any tendency towards tackiness. Even the higher atmospheric temperatures cited above are considerably below the temperatures of the gaseous drying medium introduced at the top of the drier so that a definite cooling action is obtained. However, in the case of some high melting materials, it is advantageous to keep them at an elevated temperature until they are collected at the end of the drying operation. For these instances, the air introduced at the bottom of the tower may be preheated to any desired degree.

The foregoing description is directed to a particular means for introducing and maintaining a continuous flow of a gaseous medium across the floor of the spray drying tower. It may be varied by building the bustle pipe onto the lower end of the drier walls and attaching the supports for the drier walls outside of the bustle pipe. Alternatively for many applications, the bustle pipe may be removed entirely, and air may be drawn into the tower from the surrounding atmosphere. still another means might be a plurality of air jets spaced at intervals around the periphery of the base of the oylindrical walls. In this case. oaremmtbetakentospreadtheflowasevenly as possible and avoid the creation of dead spo not reached by the air flow.

This invention has been described with reference to a spray drier in which the exit port is located in the center of a flat floor of the spray drying tower. It is also possible to arrange a series of exit ports around the outer edge of the floor and introduce the air sweepfrom a position in the middle of the floor. As long as a pressure differential is maintained between the exit ports and the incoming air, the dried particles will he swept into the exit ports without entering the air intake port.

Still another arrangement of a spray drier embodying this invention includes an inverted coneshaped floor with provision for` introducing the gaseous medium around the periphery of the large end of the cone directing the flow of the gas down the sides of the cone.

The process and apparatus of this invention is applicable to the spray drying of any inorganic or organic materials from solutions, emulsions, dispersions, or slurries thereof in volatile liquids. Among the materials which may be dried are natural and synthetic resins. soaps. detergents. waxes, foodstufl's, including milk, eggs, etc., orgame and inorganic salts, etc.

This invention provides a simple and emcient method for preventing dried material from settling on and adhering to the floor of spray driers and for moving the dried material which escapes from the desiccating gas to the exit port of the drier.

It is obvious that many variations may be made in the'process and apparatus of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a spray drying apparatus comprising a tower, an opening centrally located in the bottom of said tower for removing a l-gaseous medium having solid particles suspended therein, a substantlally continuous slot in the side of the tower and immediately adjacent the bottom thereof, a conduit of decreasing cross-sectional area annularly disposed about the bottom of said tower, and a substantially continuous duct connecting said conduit and the bottom of said tower, the

bottom of said duet being in the same 'plane with the bottom of the tower where it connects therewith to allow a smooth gaseous stream to pass along the bottom of said tower from said conduit to said centrally located opening.

2. Apparatus as defined 'in claim 1 in which the interior of the conduit contains a plurality of baifie plates spaced along the length thereof to adjust the rate of iiow of gas through said conduit and duet into said tower.

3. In a spray drying apparatus comprising a tower. an opening centrally located in the bottom of said tower for removing a gaseous medium having solid particles suspended therein, a substantially continuous slot in the side of the tower and immediately adjacent the bottom thereof, a conduit annularly disposed about said slot and communicating therewith. the bottom of said conduit being in the same plane as the bottom of the tower to allow a gaseous stream to be introduced parallel with the bottom of said tower and in the direction of said centrally located opening.

4. In a spray drying apparatus comprising a tower, an opening centrally located in the bottom of said tower for removing a gaseous medium having solid particles suspended therein. a substantally continuous slot in the side of the tower and immediately adiacent the bottom thereof, the lower edge of said slot being the periphery of the bottom of the tower. and means for introducing a gaseous stream through said slot across the bottom of the tower in the direction of said opening.

FRANCIS E. REESE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STA'I'ES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,107,784 Gray Aug. 118, 1914 1.624,739 Jones Apr.- 12, 1927 1,829,4'77 Douthitt Oct. 27, 1931 '1.946,566 Bowen Feb. 13, 1934 2.287,795 Hall June 30, 1942 2292,572 Komline Aug. 11, 1942 2,460,546 Stephanortl.I Feb. l. 1949 

